Going 1 x 10 on the road bike – am I mad?

Currently running a SRAM Apex compact chain set with 50/34 rings and SRAM cassette (11-32t). Rear mech is SRAM Apex 10-speed.

I was thinking of ditching the 50/34 and replacing with a 42t Race Face narrow wide ring.

I’ve read a few articles on 1x for the road, but they all seem to focus on 11 speed.

Has anyone else tried 1×10 on a road bike?

I can’t imagine that working for me at all, though I wouldn’t presume to question your sanity.

Why do you feel the need to do this?

Pointless.

I’d sooner swap the rear cassette for a 25/12. Will give you the same range but with loads more gears in the middle.

Pointless.

+1

Might save a smidgen of weight but other than that?

1×11 is great for CX where mechs get clogged with mud, but on the road the shifting’s usually so quick and light why would you worry about the front mech?

As DTF says, if you don’t need such a ridiculously low bottom gear just fit a 12/25 cassette.

I find that I never really use the 34t at the front, apart from really steep climbs.

Thought that having one ring at the front (42t) would provide a good middle ground?

I’ve been running the identical setup (apart from Shimano)for several years now on my main training bike. No faffing about deciding what front ring to be on, and no rubbing/trimming the front derailleur required.

Works for me.

I’ve thought about it, mainly since I think the bike would look super clean and be more aero, but on the other hand changing gears is one of very few things to think about when out on the roadie.

I’d give it a go, but I don’t think my short cage campy rear mech and matching freehub gives me many options for a decent spread.

Plus, you’ll end up with a borked chainline, especially when combined with short road bike chainstays.

you’ll die.

seriously, one of the magical things about road bikes is that you can end up miiiiles away from home.

sooner or later, It will be raining, 4dC, you’ll have run out of food and legs, you’ll have 30k of hills between you and your sofa, and your smallest gear will be a self imposed 42/32…?

i’m sure you can prove me wrong, but you did ask…

I find that I never really use the 34t at the front, apart from really steep climbs.

Sounds like it’s just a simple cassette swap that’s needed then.

Depends where you live/ride.

your smallest gear will be a self imposed 42/32.

Hang on – that’s what I have on the MTB at the moment……albeit the other way round.

Surely if I can manage to spin up hills on my MTB I can do it on a much lighter road bike with skinny tyres?

I find that I never really use the 34t at the front, apart from really steep climbs.

Going to avoid those climbs if you have the 42 or grind up them?

34-32 is a silly small ratio for the road though unless maybe you live somewhere properly hilly. Narrower cassette and maybe a 36t would be the better bet. Lots of close ratios are nice for the road.

Hang on – that’s what I have on the MTB at the moment……albeit the other way round.

Surely if I can manage to spin up hills on my MTB I can do it on a much lighter road bike with skinny tyres?

Err… not sure if that is a joke. 42/32 is most definitely not the same as 32/42 🙂

Depends what you do with it. Disclaimer: I don’t own a proper road bike any more, I have a fast hybrid but I do the same stuff on it as a I did on the proper road bike- I’d probably put this setup on a road bike if I had one. 48T big ring, 11-32 cassette, works a charm for me. But I really dislike close ratios, most roadies would find the gear gaps a problem I think.

I wouldn’t go on an alps tour with it though.

Riding on the road is so much nicer with close ratio blocks, so I support the moving to a 12-25 cassette.

But I really dislike close ratios, most roadies would find the gear gaps a problem I think.

Pretty much a roadie these days and I hate big jumps on the cassette. Is a pain when you’re inbetween gears.

and your smallest gear will be a self imposed 42/32…?

Back in the day that would have been a ludicrously low gear and people managed to get up big hills then 🙂

That’s true, I’m sure Paul Curran in the 80’s was using 42-23 on Winnats Pass during Tour of the Peak. A hard, fit bloke mind.

Hmm yes, grew up riding around Snowdonia on a standard chainset with a small 6 speed cassette on a heavy old Peugeot. Some properly knee busting grinds and a fair bit of walking 😐

From my perspective the gearing on your road bike seems unusual – compact plus 32T rear. So I’m not that surprised it does not work particularly well for you.

I’m more used to 53/39 and 11-23 or 11-25.

sooner or later, It will be raining, 4dC, you’ll have run out of food and legs, you’ll have 30k of hills between you and your sofa, and your smallest gear will be a self imposed 42/32

Still significantly lower than 38/27 which was the default before compacts came along.

Yes, but compacts didn’t just happen. They were produced to solve the problem of over-geared road bikes.

From my perspective the gearing on your road bike seems unusual – compact plus 32T rear. So I’m not that surprised it does not work particularly well for you.

Came specified on my Planet X RT-58 Alloy

I had a Merlin Maven previously and struggled up a few hills (12-25 with 34/50 up front) when I did a ride from from Greenwich to Dover.

Rode the RT-58 on a 90 mile ride last summer that went through Ashbourne & the Derbyshire Dales and seemed to fly up the hills!

Maybe I just got stronger/fitter?

I’m running 42 x 11-32, on my Tripster… it sees some CX, a good bit of mountainous road training (30-50km, 600-1000m climbing typically), and a hell of a lot of commuting (6-15km stints). And does all that very nicely indeed.

I do struggle on very steep of climbs (11%+), and I do spin out on fast flats/descents (45km+). But these are rare enough on the types of rides I do.

It would definitely annoy me if it was a “proper” road bike and I was putting in serious distance on the flat.

I find the front dérailleur a faff as well. Let us know how it goes!

Man up 42×16 fixed, 1×1 go the whole way.

I couldn’t get away with 1*xx on a road bike. Too hilly round these parts.

A friend of mine currently rides a very modified 70s road frame with 1×10. He rides it off-road with us but also took it to Austria last summer and did a number of 2000m+ days on the road with no problem.
If you choose the block right, and are prepared to change it to suit what you’re going to ride then it’ll be fine.
My experience of riding my X01 Niner on the road is that the gaps between gears is really annoying but then that has an 11-42 block so that’s to be expected and it works well off-road.

I run 40t NW and 11-32 on my commuter. Much simpler/robust and enough for everything except 60+ miles in the hills.I take it on bridleways and crappy stuff too, so I run a lightweight chainguard (BBG) and a Superstar/Hope hybrid chaincatcher.

1×11 is great for CX where mechs get clogged with mud,

Just a quick diversion from the main thread to point out that no matter how clogged up the rear mech, brakes, frame etc have become in a race, I’ve never once had a front mech clogged up. That’s not why cx’ers go 1x.

The other year there I ran Pinnacle Arkose 2 I think, the one with the 38t up front and 11 -32 up back. Done abet road cycling with it in preparation for a 24hr charity (team of 3 might I add!) at Knockhill race curcuit up here in bonnie Scotland. Done quite a few 20 – 40 miles runs on it and completed the event with it.

Having done the same preparation runs and the event a year later on 20spd geared bike, it was easier, but that’s the deal really more simplistic drive train, but less options, so some times your….er…busting ass big time as opposed to spinning along at ultimate uber efficiency!

I say give it try and see if it works for you!

Done similar recently though on my Genesis CdF commute/’gravel’ bike, not a road bike. Went from 2×9 50/34 + 11-32 to 1×9, Raceface N/W 42t + 11-28.

Works well and is a lot quieter plus it looks better. Have the same bottom gear as 50-32 before (I almost never used the 34t chainring) but have obviously lost out at the top end, spinning out at 32mph downhill.

Worth a shot

If you don’t mind big jumps, then 42×16 is a good steady gear for just long the flat – most singlespeed are geared thus. Personally I ride either fixed 42×14 or a close ratio block with a semi-compact these days. I can understand that many people do not make much use of the 34T inner ring. But after 100 km over dartmoor, you will!

Give it a try.

Just a quick diversion from the main thread to point out that no matter how clogged up the rear mech, brakes, frame etc have become in a race, I’ve never once had a front mech clogged up. That’s not why cx’ers go 1x.

My pro 6 gets significantly less mud clogging the rear tyre now it doesn’t have a front mech to build up on- admittedly I haven’t been racing on it since the change but it’s had plenty of riding in claggy north downs grass/clay with not much problem.

OP- I went from a 46-36 and 11-28 to a 42×11-36. I got a little bit more at the bottom at the expense of top end speed, but the way I see it I can push my 50×20 ss rat bike up to 20mph for a reasonable distance, so for the same cadence I should be able to take 42×11 up to about 30mph, which will do for me on the cross bike. I’d like to figure out how to get an 11s 11-40 on there and then I can go back to 46 up front for the same bottom gear but a bit more at the top if I want to use it as a roadie.

Other than that, I prefer the slightly wider gear spacing on the cassette, I think it’s spending more time on the MTB, but I always used to be double shifting on the road.

Finally, I think the bike looks nicer!

your smallest gear will be a self imposed 42/32.
Hang on – that’s what I have on the MTB at the moment……albeit the other way round.
Surely if I can manage to spin up hills on my MTB I can do it on a much lighter road bike with skinny tyres?

Splendid . 😆

Yes, but compacts didn’t just happen. They were produced to solve the problem of over-geared road bikes.

Well, not really. More to solve the issue of underfit leisure cyclists buying completely unsuitable bikes for a bimble round the countryside. A touring bike, with triple/guards would have been far better suited for the huge number of people who spent their sundays weaving and grinding round the countryside on a 42×25 bottom ratio.

(Of course now the market is so splintered there is almost a complete spectrum from full suspension fat bikes all the way to sub 5 kilo time trial bikes, with almost no gaps at all. Unless you want a full suspension fat low profile. And i’m sure there will be one along in a minute)

(And FWIW, i’ve had a clogged front mech, in a race, on the road……..)

I use 1*9 on my commuter bike, 13 mile commute each way and I never run out of gears or have an issue.

I am only cycling across the edges of the North Downs so not massively hilly, and as I am commuting speed is not that important 🙂

I run 34 chainring with 12-32 at the back, if I am going downhill and start to spin out (I can only manage a cadence of 110 at a supreme burst!!) then I stop peddling and enjoy the rest!

Well, not really. More to solve the issue of underfit leisure cyclists buying completely unsuitable bikes for a bimble round the countryside

Roadie mindsets die hard eh.. None of my very fit roadie mates run standard doubles any more.

Well, yeah. If you read the rest of the post, there has been a massive splintering on the market. So you now can get a lightweight wonderbike, thats suitable for the leisure cyclist.
15 odd years ago, (You know, when they started developing the compact) those same cyclists would have been better off on a touring or audax bike. As you didn’t have the segmentation and wide range of gearing options that you do now.

Once the kit is there, you might as well use it, for training, or as a do it all bike.

And how fit is fit? Elite? 1st cat? Pro?

Roadies tend not to like big gaps as its all about maintaining a similar cadence. I have 1x on the CX bike which is all stop/start but would find it hateful on a road bike.

Try it, report back, swap back if you don’t like it.